AMALA PROVINCES
History
The Congregation of Daughters of Mary, a missionary congregation having pontifical status, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Harvest and affiliated to the Franciscan Friar Minor Capuchin Congregation was founded on 8th May 1938 at Marthandom in Tamil Nadu. Monsignor Joseph Kuzhinjalil and Mother Mary Kallarackal, founded this congregation in the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church to proclaim the Word of God to the world and to foster unity among Christians, under the patronage and with the blessings of Mar Ivanios, Metropolitan Archbishop of Thiruvananthapuram of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Its motto is “That all may be one” (Jn. 17:21)
The Congregation has happily grown and extended itself widely so that it is able to exercise its activities in all the dioceses of the Syro Malankara Church and in various dioceses of the Syro Malabar Church, the Latin Church and the Byzantain-Greek Melkite Church. To facilitate effective administrative and apostolic supervision, the Congregation has been bifurcated into six provinces, three in Kerala, one in Tamil Nadu, and the other two are in North India – in Maharashtra (Chanda Diocese) and in Punjab (Jalandhar Diocese), with the Generalate situated at Kudappanakunnu, Maria Bhavan, Trivandrum, Kerala.
Daughters of Mary commenced its apostolic service in the diocese of Chanda at the invitation of Late Bishop Mar Januarius and opened its first house at Durgapur, near Chandrapur on 1st November 1981.Planning to erect its regional/provincial house in the mission area itself, the Congregation purchased two acres of land from the property of St. Antony’s Church, Wardha in the year1997, where the headquarters of Amala province is presently situated.
In the year 2000, the convents in Maharashtra together were formed a Region and Stella Maris Convent, Rajura in Chandrapur Dt, had raised to the position of Regional House and Rev Mother Felicita was appointed as the Regional Superior. On 26th June 2002 the foundation stone was laid for the construction of Provincial house at Wardha and was completed in a short span of time. On 25th March 2003, Most Rev Bishop Vijay Anand blessed the house and dedicated it to the service of God and man alike. The first members of the community were Sr. Felicita (Regional Superior), Sr. Anice and Sr Lissue Mathew along with five Aspirants.
The Region was raised to the status of Vice Province on 23rd July 2005 and Rev Mother Prima DM was elected as the Provincial, to sail the ship of Amala Vice Province and ever since the postulants of the province have been attending the Atmadarsan course at CMI Darsana Institute, at Wardha. 11th August 2016 is a Red-Letter Day in the annals of Amala Province as Rev Mother Giles DM Superior General of DM Congregation and her Charismatic team found it right and fitting to elevate Amala Vice Province to a full-fledged province and Mother Rita Jose continued her administration as its Provincial Superior
Over the years, under the effective spiritual and administrative guidance of Mother Felicita DM, Mother Prima DM, Mother CIcily Joseph DM, Mother Rita Jose DM, Mother Flower Maria DM, Amala Sadan has established itself as a centre of spirituality, education, training and formation. While monitoring the spiritual and material needs of 21 houses spread out in Maharashtra, Kerala, Jharkhand, Telangana in India and in Germany and America, Amala Sadan also maintains a warm fraternity of sharing and caring with the adjacent communities and congregations under the guidance of Rev Mother Rita Jose DM, the Provincial Superior.
Our mission is lived and expressed in a diversity of apostolate among the marginalized poor especially women and children through home visits, parish and faith formation, education, health care and social welfare activities. Home visits, part of the apostolic patrimony bequeathed by its founder, are a rich aspect of the congregation’s ministry of Evangelization. Just as Blessed Virgin Mary, carrying the Word Incarnate within her, visited Elizabeth, so too The Daughters of Mary, themselves filled with the Word, visit homes and share the Good News with families.
